Remus collapsed exhaustedly against, what had once been, a short stone wall. He had weathered his second transformation since going to live with the wolf pack, as they referred to themselves, the night before and was a bit ragged. Unable to acquire the wolfsbane potion amongst the other wolves and unwilling to endanger others he'd locked himself away leaving moony to claw and bite at himself in frustration.

He glanced up at the approach of his only link to the order, and thereby his child. "Hullo Tonks, news?" He breathed out in greeting.

Tonks winced at the sight of him. She rushed over grasping his chin in her small nimble fingers and inspecting the myriad of new cuts and scratches, "oh Remus," she sighed sadly fumbling for her wand. "Please tell me you're making progress, you can't go on this way. You're not a teenager anymore!"

Remus chuckled lightly allowing her to heal his smaller wounds and accepting the flask of water she'd brought along. "How's my cub?"

"Still won't speak to me, I think she blames me for your absence."

"Either that or she's jealous you get to see me." The man laughed at his daughter's continued annoyance at the goodnatured metamorphagus. "I'm sorry if she's rude Dora, I'm all she has you see. Caelen's leery of women in general, her mother you know, it's probably worse with me gone."

Tonks nodded sitting beside her friend, "I know it's ok Remus, I don't blame the poor girl. I'll get through to her eventually." She smiled when she took in his face waiting eagerly for news of his child. "Ok Sirius says second full moon went as well as the first they played around then she became sort of mopey and fell asleep against his side. He's not sure what he's doing wrong. The Weasleys have been there almost a month now, the twins are making it their mission to keep her distracted as much as possible. She spent an afternoon hanging around with Snape," here the woman made an annoyed face, "Sirius wasn't impressed and wound up arguing with him, Caelen refused to speak to him for the next day and a half."

Remus chuckled, "well the full moon thing, we generally talk once she tires out, It's a wolf thing because she's my cub we're linked you see. So the moping is just another manifestation of her missing her dad. Hopefully the twins aren't getting her into too much mischief. As for Sirius and Severus, Caelen's close to Snape he means a lot to her, I've found its best to get along."

The pair sank to the ground, Remus leaning slightly against the small, but capable, woman's shoulder. "Alright your turn spill." Tonks ordered as if they were school kids with secrets rather than members of a secret order fighting to protect wizard kind and the world at large from a madman.

"Ok I've made some progress with some of the older werewolves, they remember how it was when Voldemort was in power last time." He paused here spreading his hands apart as if to demonstrate how hopeless he felt to change his next statement. "The younger ones are proving a bit more difficult. As I told Albus they've been mistreated, Voldemort's promising a new world where they're on top, no more struggling for scraps and starving on the street. I'll admit if I didn't know better it would entice even me and that's what the problem is, not all the younger generation knows better."

"So we may have to fight werewolves in the end because we've mistreated them allowing them to starve and struggle for so long." Tonks sighed, "seems almost poetic somehow, Voldemort the ultimate evil, as far as most of us are concerned, looks better to them because we've treated them so poorly. I'm so sorry Remus."

Remus shook his head patting Dora's shoulder lightly, "no not your fault love. What I need, sadly, is for the death eaters to do something that shows how they truly feel about us 'halfbreeds'. If they could just see how they truly feel towards us I would think it would take away their doubts."

"What do you want me to tell Dumbledore?" Tonks asked leaning into his shoulder.

"Tell him what I've told you and that I have a plan that might work." He sighed rubbing his face again. Remus seemed to age before her eyes as he thought. "If I, if I don't make it back for Caelen's birthday, or at all-"

Tonks cut him off throwing her arms around his neck, "-don't even speak it, you're coming back. You're needed, Caelen needs you, and...me, you're important to me Remus."

The man untangled her arms from around his neck pushing her back gently. "If I don't make it back tell Caelen I love her, please help Sirius with her any way you can, he'll need it."

She nodded her face mostly composed but her eyes flashed with frustration, "What about me Remus?"

"Dora," he began rubbing his face with his hands, "I can't. I've already passed on my lycanthropy once I won't do it again, I'm far to old for you, I'm barely able to support Caelen and myself I can't let you down like that, and you don't need a beat up old werewolf like me."

Tonks glared at him standing swiftly, "you're a fool Remus Lupin. Are you telling me if you could go back, if you could know ahead of time about Caelen you wouldn't have fathered her, that you'd take back that little girl's life because she's like you?!"

Fire flashed in Lupin's eyes and he stood towering over the younger woman. "Do not put words in my mouth Nymphadora. That little girl is my world I'd sooner quit breathing than take back one moment with her. The fact remains I've cursed her. Unless matters drastically change this is what she has to look forward to!" He indicated the run down factories and broken stone walls surrounding them. "I wouldn't take away her existence, I wouldn't take away one moment but I also won't bring more children into a world where they will suffer!"

Tonks attempted to comfort the man reaching forward to grasp his arm. "But don't you see Remus, you say that because you know her. If I could talk to a future you, from a place where you and I had become something more, where we'd become a family, you'd feel the same about any children we might have."

"The fact that I would adore any children I fathered equally is no reason to go around fathering more!" Remus argued angrily.

Tonks sighed turning to leave, "maybe not," she responded over her shoulder refusing to look at the man she'd come to care for over the last two months, "but it's a reason to not refuse to even consider creating a family, it's a reason to maybe give us a chance!"

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Sirius woke up two days after the second full moon he'd spent watching Caelen to find a small weight laying on his chest. Her hair was plastered to her head as only happens when one is feverish or cries themselves to sleep. "Caelen, alright pup?"

The girl sat up moving away from her godfather and wrapping her arms tightly around her knees. "Is daddy coming home soon uncle Sirius?"

He hated this it wasn't fair! Almost daily Caelen asked about her father, if he was safe, if they'd heard from him, and, most often, was he coming home soon. "I don't know pup, Dora said he was making progress. He's got a plan to get through to the rest, hopefully he'll be home soon."

The pair wandered down the stairs for breakfast. Mrs Weasley, as she did every morning, greeted them cheerfully hugging Caelen as she set a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her. "How're you doing dear, sleep well?"

"Fine," the girl mumbled picking at her breakfast.

Sirius looked at the girl in worry, "come on now pup, what do you think your dad will do to me if he comes back and you haven't been eating properly?"

The girl glared at him before aggressively biting into her bacon. Her expression darkened further when Tonks tumbled in through the doorway.

"Hullo all," the woman greeted quietly. Her normally pink hair was a dusty brown color, her usual cheerful expression gone. "How's it Caelen?"

The little girl, a smaller feminine version of her father, glared silently at Tonks before leaving the room with her bacon.

Sirius waited for the others to leave before speaking to his cousin. "What's going on Tonks?"

The woman studied him hesitantly before sighing in defeat, you couldn't keep secrets from Sirius. "You know Remus better than probably anyone right Sirius?"

The man nodded slowly, "probably so what's this about Dora?"

"We've uh, we've become close while he's been away, I thought we had anyway. He's pushing me away now though, says he's no good for me and even if he could ignore that he's not willing to curse any more children with his lycanthropy." She sat as if a large weight rested heavily on her shoulders. "What should I do Sirius? How can I convince him that we, what we might have, is worth a chance?"

Sirius sat next to his cousin taking her hand in his reassuringly. "You have to remind him what his fighting for, a better world for Caelen, a place where she won't have to worry about who she is. It's not gonna change overnight but eventually, if we win this fight, things are gonna change. Some day Caelen's gonna be able to go out there and become whatever she wants, live where she wants. Same go's for any other children either born with or infected with lycanthropy. Ultimately, you have to show him this is what he's fighting for, he's just scared right now Dora. Keep at him, he'll come around."

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Remus did end up missing Caelen's birthday, it killed him to do it but Dumbledore gave him no choice.

The morning of Caelen's eighth birthday, the second since finding her father, Caelen woke to a glowing silver white wolf. It floated above her before Remus' voice echoed out of its mouth, "hello cub, I'm so sorry I can't be there for your birthday." His voice seemed to crack as he said it. "I hope to be home by the end of the month, maybe sooner. I love you little one, more than anything in the world. Be good for uncle Sirius, happy birthday cub."

Caelen cried out as the glowing wolf protronus vanished before her eyes, "no daddy don't go!" She sobbed reaching to grasp the intangible creature.

Sirius rushed into the room looking around quickly, "Caelen? What is it pup?"

"Daddy sent his protronus," she sniffled pointing where the wolf had been moments before. "He's not gonna make it back for my birthday."

The girl began sobbing again, Sirius was beginning to feel all he did was try to calm sobbing children. "Come on little one, we'll still have fun. I've been planning for days, me and Mrs Weasley, it'll still be a fun day." He tried to reassure her.

"Don't want a birthday!" Caelen grumbled, pouting.

"Oh come on pup, I've never got to throw anyone a birthday before it'll be fun!"

"I don't want to!!" She shouted becoming angry, "I don't want a birthday, I don't want to be here, and I don't want you!!!!!" Caelen fell against her father's pillow once more her body shaking with silent sobs. "I want my daddy," the girl whispered brokenly.

Sirius reached out slowly patting the child's head gently, "I know pup, I know."

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Hey guys me again. I hope it's going ok? There's not a ton of Remus action from here on in the Harry Potter books so I'm on my own mostly. hopefully you like what I'm coming up with? I'm off to write more would love comments as usual later peeps!